Emerald: Omega to Alpha

~ Emerald/Emmy ~ Just now, I went into the toilet. Suddenly cold water soaked me. “What?! Not again!” My hair and clothes were wet. I tried to dry them as much as I could with toilet tissues. After that, I heard giggles. Later, there was a sound of the toilet door locked from the outside. I rushed to bang on that door. “Hey, open the door! Please, anyone who hears me, open the door!” Before long, I could hear an opened lock sound. Then I saw the toilet door open. “Oh, my God! Emmy, it’s you again?” “Hi, Ms. Morales. Yes...,” I said. Ms. Morales was a janitor at Dream High School. It’s been a few times since the school staff caught me being the students' victim. “You’re supposed to fight when anyone bullies you. You can also report to the teacher. If you keep quiet, they will become more and more oppressive of you.” “If I fought, there could be a bigger problem. I don’t want any trouble,” I said in a weak voice. “Pity you, honey. Too bad I’m just the janitor here.” Ms. Morales sighed. “I still have your clothes from the last time. You should change your wet clothes first.” I had experienced things like this before. Ms. Morales, at that time, offered me her extra shirt and dried my clothes. Since I hadn’t met with her again after that, she still kept my shirt. “Well, thank you very much, Ms. Morales. You are my savior. I don’t know what I'd do if there weren’t you.” Ms. Morales and I walked into the school staff’s lockers. After handing over my shirt, Ms. Morales stared at me thoughtfully. “You may need to learn martial arts or something. So, when anyone bothers you, at least you can fight.” “I’ll remember your advice, Miss. Unfortunately, I need more money to learn martial arts. I can't ask for more money from my mom. She’s sacrificed a lot for me by working in two places to pay for my tuition. She's already had a lot of burdens. My father is missing too, and the police are looking for him.” I bit my lower lip, holding back the tears that would come out. “I’m sorry to hear that, honey. Life is hard indeed, but you should be strong. Don’t lose to the troubles.” Ms. Morales patted my back. I nodded while listening to Ms. Morales’s advice. “Now get dressed and go to class. The class’s about to start, isn’t it?” “Yes. Once again, thank you very much for your help, Ms. Morales.” I went back to the toilet and changed my clothes. After that, I ran to my class. After only a few steps of entering the door, unexpectedly, someone tripped me. Anyone in the classroom could hear the loud laughter because I was falling. Someone stretched their leg and tripped me up. My bag fell, so did I. Ignoring the laughter, I braced myself to grab the school bag and walked towards my chair. In the chair next to me was Jessica Hayden, my best friend. Jessica and I were eleventh graders at Dream High School. Both of us were 17 years old. “Em, did they bully you again?” “Well, yes. It’s not unusual.” “Are you okay? I should wait for you, and we should go to the class together.” Jessica reached out to touch my hand. I sighed. “It’s okay. The bullying isn’t the first time. I got used to it.” Just now, as Jessica wanted to talk again, our Math teacher had already entered the classroom.  “Please open your book on page 52. We will learn logarithmic functions today,” our teacher said. After finishing Math class, we learned History. Mr. Stephenson gave a quiz that was immediately greeted mostly with students' long complaints. As soon as the class was over, Jessica and I walked into the cafeteria. We were queuing up to get lunch. Once we got our meals, we sat on the chair in the cafeteria's corner. “Earlier in the morning, what happened?” Jess asked. “I went to the toilet, and someone flushed me with water. After that, those who flushed me locked me there.” “Oh, my God! How did you get out then?” “Ms. Morales heard me banging on the toilet door. She’s my saving angel.” I sighed. “Maybe we need to report this to the picket teacher,” Jessica proposed. “No, I don’t want to get in trouble because of that.” “But, Em, facing something like this repeatedly, it’s so horrible.” I stared at Jessica, my shoulders sagged. Later, I sighed. “I know, but if I reported this, the teacher could let my mom know about it. I don’t want to give more burden to my mom. She’s had too much weight on her shoulders. I don’t want the teacher to send a letter about students bullying me. She'll be worried about me.” “I wish I could do something....” Jessica held my hand and squeezed it a little to encourage me. “You’ve helped me a lot by being my best friend, Jess. Without you, I can’t get through all of these.” “Em....” “At least the 11th grade will end soon. After that, the 12th grade. If I had graduated, I wouldn’t meet most of the students here anymore.” “It's true, but you’re so strong, Em. I admire you.” “Because I have no other choice, Jess.” I closed my eyes, trying so hard not to let my tears fall. “If I’m weak, I’ll be ruined. That’s why I've to be strong. For my sake, also for mom and dad.” “Hopefully, this situation will end soon.” “Yes, I hope so, Jess.” Once we had finished eating, we put trays and cutleries in place. Later, we walked to head back to the class. Just a few steps away, a group of students confronted us. “Look, who's here?” Some students blocked Jessica and me. “Let us through,” I said in a flat tone. “Not so fast. You can pass if you mention the password,” Douglas said, patting my head. I jerked my head and then stared at Doug. I whispered so only both of us could hear it, “You know, mate-bond tie us. Why do you keep urging me to break it? If you want to be free of it, why don’t you do it?” Doug whispered to me as well, “You know why. I can’t break the bond without risking my father knowing it. So, decide for yourself. Come on, how much longer do you want to hold back against being bullied at school?” I sighed. “If you want to break the mate-bond, go ahead. I will continue to respect the bond.” Doug pulled my hand. He dragged me into a quiet school area next to the cafeteria. After that, he pushed me against the wall, then blocked me with both hands. “Listen, Miss Stubborn, do you think I’d be interested in you? Just think, do you have anything for me to be interested in?” “Let me go!” I tried to push his chest. But as if I shoved a wall, he didn’t move even a bit. Doug ignored my protest and continued, “You’re not pretty, you’re not smart, just a half-blood. You don’t have a good connection either, just an Omega in your pack. It’s a shame for me to pair up with you. Aren’t you aware of that?” It hurt me to hear him say that, but I just tried so hard not to show it. So, I just said casually, “I know, but I didn’t choose to pair up with you either.”  “What did you say? An Omega like you dare to fight me? An Alpha candidate?” Doug grabbed my chin hard. “I’ll keep pressing you until you untie the bond. Just wait and see.” I stared at Doug. “I do not want to be a dishonorable one by severing the bond set by The Highest One.” “You!” Just as Doug wanted to talk further, a spoiled voice cut him off, “Hi, Doug, what are you doing here?” Doug immediately released my chin and turned around. As soon as he saw Cherry Brown, his expression was instantly cheerful. “Hey, Cherry. What are you doing here?” Cherry reached out her hand to touch Doug’s right shoulder lightly as if she wanted to clean his shirt from dust. “Just take a walk. Do you want to go on a date with me this Saturday?” “Sure! I’ll pick you up. At 7:00 p.m.?” “Okay, no problem at all. Have you already decided on breaking up your mate-bond with this weak Omega?” Cherry asked while touching Doug’s chest. She moved her fingers slowly to rub Doug’s chest.  “I want it badly, but she’s so stubborn,” Doug said, frowning. “Ah, I’ll help you. Just leave it to me.” Doug grabbed Cherry’s hand and kissed the back of her hand. “Thank you, beautiful. I’ll see you on Saturday night.” Cherry walked away, followed by Doug’s enchanted gaze. As if aware that he was still in front of me, Doug looked back at me with a deep frown.  “Do you see her? That’s supposed to be my Luna candidate. She's beautiful and popular. She’s also strong, a Beta. Not like you, weak and mixed-blood!” Doug said “If you want Cherry as your Luna, go ahead. Break the bond between us,” I replied a hundred times already as I lost count of how many times I said it to Doug. “You should break it!” “No. You’re the one who wants it. So, you’re the one who should do it.” Doug growled. “You’re indeed very hard-headed. Let’s see, who will survive? You or I?” After that, Doug left. I sighed. I wanted to break my relationship with Doug, but the bond between us felt so strong, even though I didn’t like him at all. I just recently knew that I was a werewolf. My mother and Jessica didn’t know at all. I didn’t dare to tell them because I didn’t know about their reaction. I just kept it all in silence. Considering myself being an Omega in my pack meant my pack members thought of me as the weakest. I wasn’t proud of being a werewolf. It only added more complications to my already complex life.